Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff Defends Record at Impeachment Trial

Brasilia, – Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff has defended her record during a marathon session during her impeachment trial in the Senate.

She is accused of illegally manipulating the budget to hide a growing deficit. Rousseff said she was the victim of a political coup d’etat led by those she defeated at the polls in 2014, according to the (BBC).

Senators are due to vote later this week on whether to reinstate her or remove her from office for good. “I did not commit the crimes that I am arbitrarily and unjustly accused of,” Rousseff said, adding: “We are one step away from a real coup d’etat.” After her opening statement, she was cross-examined by dozens of senators in a session that continued into the night.

One of her fiercest opponents, former presidential candidate Aecio Neves, told her that her electoral victory did not give her the right to break the law. “From the day after I was elected, several measures were taken to destabilise my government. And you have been systematically making accusations against me,” she replied.

During her defence Rousseff reminded senators of her past as an opponent to military rule. For her to be removed from the presidency permanently, 54 of the 81 senators would have to vote for her impeachment.